Alien Meatballs...and Reality.

I love cooking. I just do. And I realized last night why. It's because it's a challenge. You never quite know exactly how something is going to turn out. As an amateur cook, I'm surprised when I realize that I've successfully made whatever it is I was attempting to make. And that's rewarding.

Perhaps for me it's more rewarding than it should be. I fear so much about cooking that I've imagined it as something darn near impossible. I fear killing the yeast, over-baking my pies, and making inedible alien meatballs. I'm always ecstatic when none of that happens! I'm learning more and more that cooking is fun. All you have to do is follow a recipe, and wa-la! You have a scrumptious dinner of shrimp and pasta for two.

As a newly wed, I've made my very first pot pie, my very first batch of from-scratch biscuits, my first meatball sandwich, heck, my first meatballs. And they've all turned out edible, which is wonderful, and dare I say, surprising? I guess it just feels good to be good at something.

Tonight I'm going to to go one step further. I'm making my own bread using this recipe. And I'll be making chicken soup from this recipe. But it'll only be loosely based on it, mostly because I don't have 2 quarts of chicken broth and there's only two of us to eat it all anyway.

So. yes! Yay for adventure. Yay for doing things you that make you feel good. And yay for homemade bread and chicken soup.

Moral of the story: Ignore your fear and make that homemade bread, or pitch that sales idea, or play that sport you really truly love. Do what you enjoy! Let yourself have fun!